Various occupations place people in precarious positions at relatively high heights, thereby creating a need for fall-arresting safety apparatus. Such apparatus requires a reliable lifeline and reliable connections with both a support structure and the person working in proximity to the support structure. U.S. Pat. No. 5,203,829 to Fisk et al. discloses a body-engaging harness suitable for this purpose. As disclosed in the Fisk et al. patent and shown herein in FIGS. 5-6, the Fisk et al. harness 10 generally includes a shoulder strap 12, a waist strap 14, and a seat strap 16.
The shoulder strap 12 includes left and right shoulder strap segments 18 and 20 which pass over respective shoulders of a person. A first end portion of the left shoulder strap segment 18 is fixedly secured to an adjustment member 22 by means of stitching 42. The left shoulder strap segment 18 extends from the adjustment member 22, across a back pad 30 and then into interlaced engagement with a first intermediate portion 26 of the seat strap 16. A second end portion 24 of the left shoulder strap segment 18 extends beyond the juncture with the seat strap 16 and is fixedly secured to a female buckle connector 58.
A first end portion of the right shoulder strap segment 20 is adjustably secured to the adjustment member 22 and thereby connected to the first end portion of the left shoulder strap segment 18. A distal end 25 of the first end portion of the right shoulder strap segment 20 is folded and sewn against itself to discourage removal from the adjustment member 22. The distal end 25 is retained relative to an intermediate portion of the right shoulder strap segment 20 by means of a keeper 70. The intermediate portion of the right shoulder strap segment 20 extends from the adjustment member 22, through a front slide assembly 34, which includes both a D-ring and an adjuster link, and then across the back pad 30. The right shoulder strap segment 20 extends from the back pad 30 into interlaced engagement with a second intermediate portion 38 of the seat strap 16. A second end portion 36 of the right shoulder strap segment 20 extends beyond the juncture with the seat strap 16 and is fixedly secured to a female buckle connector 58.
The back pad 30 cooperates with a D-ring 29 to define a suspension assembly 28. The strap segments 18 and 20 are connected to the back pad 30 by heavy duty stitching 32, and the D-ring 29 is secured to the back pad 30 by webbing extending between discrete sections of the stitching 32. The resulting suspension assembly 28 provides an anchorage point for a fall arrest line and also encourages proper use of the harness by giving it shape which suggests how to correctly secure the harness about a person.
A first end portion 15 of the waist strap 14 is fixedly secured to the seat strap 16, proximate the second intermediate portion 38 thereof. An intermediate portion of the waist strap 14 passes through the front slide assembly 34. A second end portion of the waist strap 14 is connected to a male buckle connector 56. An adjustment assembly 60 is provided on the second end portion of the waist strap 14 to facilitate adjustments to the length of the waist strap 14. The harness 10 may be further adjusted by moving the adjuster link on the front slide assembly 34 away from the D-ring along the right shoulder strap segment 20 and the waist strap 14; repositioning the right shoulder strap segment 20 and the waist strap 14 relative to respective portions of the D-ring; and moving the adjuster link back toward the D-ring.
As noted above, the first intermediate portion 26 of the seat strap 16 is interlaced with the left shoulder strap segment 18. A female buckle connecter 58 is connected to a distal end of this first intermediate portion 26. A central portion of the seat strap 16 extends between the intermediate portions 26 and 38, and each end portion of the seat strap 16 defines a respective leg strap segment 64 or 66. Spacing tabs 62 are sewn to portions of the seat strap 16 to ensure proper positioning of the leg portions 64 and 66 relative to a person's legs.
A male buckle connector 56 is disposed on each leg portion 64 or 66 before a distal end 65 or 67 of each is folded and sewn against itself to discourage removal of the connector 56. The effective lengths of the leg portions 64 and 66 may be adjusted by repositioning the buckles 56 relative thereto. The distal ends 65 and 67 are retained relative to intermediate portions of respective straps 64 and 66 by means of additional keepers 70. The buckle connectors 56 on the leg portions 64 and 66 selectively interlock with the buckle connectors 58 on the ends of respective shoulder strap segments 18 and 20.
Another conventional body-engaging harness is known in the art as a "vest-type" harness. This prior art harness has shoulder straps which criss-cross across a person's back (between the waist and the shoulders) and extend parallel to one another across a person's chest (between the shoulders and the waist). A transverse strap extends laterally across the person's chest between the two parallel strap portions. Some of these harnesses include another transverse strap which extends between the two criss-crossing strap portions, about eight inches below the dorsal connection point. This additional strap is intended to reduce the likelihood of a person falling out of the harness during a fall arrest. Unfortunately, such an arrangement also impedes adjustability of the harness and/or does not maintain a fixed distance between the additional strap and the dorsal connection point.
An object of the present invention is to provide an improved suspension assembly for body-engaging harnesses. Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved method of interconnecting criss-crossing straps on a body-engaging harness.